Automated Nanofabrication using Thermal Scanning Probe Lithography

I will report on the latest developments on nanofabrication using thermal Scanning Probe Lithography (tSPL). Next to briefly describing the newest scientific achievements, the main focus of the presentation will be on the automation of the method. We use the nanometer-scale resolution of rapid AFM metrology to detect underlying devices, determine the local resist thickness, and perform nanometer-accurate overlay patterning. Together with laser patterning, the tool is used to autonomously fabricate fin-type field effect transistors with sub-50 nm dimensions at chip scale.

The achievement of fabricating complete devices solely relying on tSPL is the next important step to establish tSPL technology as a low-cost, low-damage, and highresolution patterning method.